Blue Moon (Nightcreature Novel, Bk 1) by Lori Handeland

This book had one very major flaw, but I liked it anyway. More on the flaw later.

First, what I liked: I liked the characters, and while this isn't my favorite myth (werewolves are evil and have no choice of being good or evil once bitten), it works well into the story and the world that is created.

I liked Jessie. I liked that she is different and she's okay with that. She knows who she is, knows what her strong points are and her weak points, and she likes herself just as she is.

And Will seriously grew on me as the book continued. Yeah, he was pretty sure of himself, didn't take no for an answer, and all of that Alpha Male thing we see so often. But he was also failing in self confidence in other ways, and that made him more realistic. (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

As for Mandenauer, I seriously liked him once we got to know him. His life has made him cold and untrusting, but he's managed to still be alive. And a serious bad-ass.

As for the plot, I did kind of know that the bad guys were going to end up being the bad guys. Or rather, I thought, but wasn't sure. It would have been my guess if forced to guess. But that doesn't take away from the book any. It was a very enjoyable read.

Now for the flaw. The premise of the book is that there is this ancient Native American ritual that has to take place between the two moons of the same month. The second moon in a month is called a Blue Moon. But, that's strictly a gregorian calendar thing. Or rather, a calendar that is based on the sun instead of the moon.

The Native belief systems worked on a moon calendar, not a solar one. Ancient Native Americans would have no idea that someday a calendar would show up so that two full moons could happen in a month. The word month derives from moon. As in, a moon cycle. That's the way it worked when the calendar was based on the moon. Back then, a blue moon was impossible. So, to my knowledge, there aren't any ancient Native American rituals around a Blue Moon.

Like I said. A serious flaw. But in spite of that, it was an enjoyable book. I had to suspend belief for that though, and that hurt my enjoyment of it. So, it gets a 7 of 10 instead of an 8 of 10.

Book Rating: 7 of 10






Blue Moon (2004)
Dark Moon (2005)
Hunter's Moon (2005)
Crescent Moon (2006)
Midnight Moon (2006)
Rising Moon (2007)
Hidden Moon (2007)
Thunder Moon (2008)